YouTube: Free Music Can Generate Revenue on Par With Paid

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Bruno, Calif. – Google’s (NASD: GOOG) YouTube says that artists and
labels can generate as much revenue from free, ad-supported music as they do
selling it, Evolver.fm reports.

Over the past year, labels have seen a 200%-300%
increase in the amount of revenue generated from free YouTube spins, the
company’s director of content partnerships, Chris Maxcy, told Evolver.fm.

This
growth was credited to factors including increased mobile viewing; more
profitable ad formats and productive sales teams; sharing of videos by curators
on blogs and social networks; and the Content ID system that lets labels
monetize user-uploaded songs.

"If you were to look at the numbers for Lady
Gaga, the number of views she gets on YouTube versus downloads that she gets on
iTunes, obviously, a single download on iTunes will pay her more than a single
view on YouTube," product manager Phil Farhi told Evolver.

"But when
you look at the traffic — the number of people that are coming back and
watching her videos over and over again, watching her videos before they
download the song, or discovering them on YouTube — you can see how that scale
can compete with a paid service."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4fkxaym
(Evolver.fm)

Report: News Corp. Mulling MySpace Sale, Receiving Offers

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Los Angeles – News Corp. (NYSE:  NWS) has heard from a number of parties
interested in acquiring its struggling MySpace social
network-turned-entertainment portal, with CEO Chase Carey noting yesterday on
the company’s earnings conference call that "the plan to allow MySpace to
reach its full potential may be best developed under a new ownership
structure," Agence-France Presse reported.

"The interest to date has
ranged from ‘A’ to ‘Z,’ from industry players, financial players to foreign to
domestic and that’s without really being out there. It’s sort of incoming,
we’re not soliciting anything at this point," Carey said.

Carey added that
News Corp. is considering a range of options for MySpace, including a
restructuring or taking on a new outside investor.

MySpace announced plans to
lay off nearly half of its workforce last month. News Corp. acquired the
company for $580 million in 2005.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4j9r99r
(AFP)

Hulu Inks Deal With Viacom to Restore 'Daily Show,' 'Colbert'

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

New York – Online video portal joint venture Hulu announced
on Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Viacom (NYSE:  VIA), to return Comedy
Central’s "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," and bring other Viacom-owned programming from MTV and other networks, to the
service. Viacom pulled its programming from Hulu a year ago, after the
companies were unable to agree on terms.

The deal will provide subscribers to
the $7.99 per month Hulu Plus service with episodes of current Viacom programs
such as "Jersey Shore," "Tosh.0" and "Hot in Cleveland"
21 days after they air.

In addition, Hulu Plus will get more than 2,000
episodes from older programs like "The Chappelle Show," "Reno
911," "The Real World" and "Beavis & Butthead."

"We
are very pleased to partner with Hulu in a way that recognizes the value of our
strong brands and the passionate young fans who are attracted to our
content," said Viacom head Philippe Dauman.

"The Hulu Plus service
offers us the opportunity to connect with our audiences through an exciting
subscription and ad supported platform that is complementary to our existing
distribution arrangements."

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4fso6vs
(Hulu blog)

AEG

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

AEG Debuts Ticketing Service; Will Compete With Ticketmaster

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Live event promoter and venue owner AEG
announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Outbox on a joint venture to
launch an electronic ticketing service to compete with Ticketmaster-Live Nation (NYSE:  LYV). Outbox
Enterprises is a joint venture between AEG, Cirque du Soleil, Outbox and former
Ticketmaster CEO Fredric D. Rosen, with Rosen and Outbox CEO Jean-Francoys
Brousseau to serve as co-CEOs.

Outbox will allow venues to sell tickets to
consumers directly from their own websites.

The service is expected to launch
at all 105 AEG properties over the next 24 months, which include the Staples
Center, Target Center, Best Buy Theater and O2 Arena.

The Wall Street Journal
reports that the company also intends to compete with Ticketmaster for venue clients,
as contracts expire.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4awyhog

http://tinyurl.com/486w64c
(WSJ)

Answers.com Acquired by AFCV for $127 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

*A correction was made to this story.

New York – Answers.com announced on Thursday that it has
agreed to be acquired by AFCV Holdings, a unit of Summit Partners, in a deal
valued at $127 million.

The purchase price of $10.50 per share represents a 33%
premium over the company’s average closing price over the past 90 days.

New
York-based Answers Corp., previously called GuruNet, was founded in 1998.

The
company acquired WikiAnswers (previously FAQ Farm) in 2006.

Answers.com has raised a total of over $45 million in financing to
date, from backers including Redpoint Ventures, Flatiron Partners, Goldman
Sachs and Highland Capital Partners.

*Correction: This story previously stated that Answers.com acquired Dictionary.com, when in fact the company sold to IAC.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6glozjx

http://www.answers.com

Storify Gets Funding for Social Media Story Platform

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Storify, a service that lets users create a
"story" by combining Tweets, photos and videos from multiple social
networks, said in a blog post that it has received a new investment from Khosla
Ventures.

Financial details were not disclosed.

San Francisco-based Storify’s
service is still in private beta. The company says early users of its service
include The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and PBS NewsHour.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/46et2uj
(Storify blog)

Japan's Softbank Invests in Chinese Video Portal PPTV

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Shanghai – China’s Synacast Corp. — also known as PPLive —
the operator of operator of online TV service PPTV, announced on Thursday that
Japan’s Softbank has acquired a 35% stake in the company.

Financial terms of
the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 2004, PPTV counts 200 million
user installations and 105 million active monthly users in China.

The site
offers professionally produced programming from more than 120 TV stations, supported
by both advertising and pay-per-view.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4wery4m

http://www.softbank.co.jp/en

http://www.pptv.com

Music Streamer Rdio Lands $17.5 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Music streaming service Rdio announced on
Thursday that it has raised $17.5 million in new financing.

New investor
Mangrove Capital Partners joined previous backers including Atomico, Skype and
Rdio co-founder Janus Friis.

Founded in 2008 by Skype and Kazaa creators Janus
Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, San Francisco-based Rdio offers an unlimited subscription
music streaming service for the Web and mobile devices.

The company will use
the funds to expand to new platforms and regions in 2011, as well as to hire
additional staff.

 

Related Links:
http://www.rdio.com

People.com First Magazine Site to Get 1 Billion Monthly Views

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) People magazine announced on
Wednesday that its People.com was the first magazine website to attract 1
billion page views in a single month. "Equally important is the fact that
we’ve been able to effectively monetize this increase in premium traffic,"
said Fran Hauser, president of digital for Time’s style and entertainment
group. "In 2010, PEOPLE.com ad revenue represented 12 percent of overall
PEOPLE ad revenue, and in the first quarter of 2011, we expect to be at 14
percent."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4pzsrhh

http://www.people.com

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